In a large, heavy pot, bring the water to a
boil. Add the salt. Keep the water at a boil. Pour the cornmeal into the
water in a thin, steady stream, either through your fingers or using a
spouted measuring cup. All the time you are adding the cornmeal, whisk!

Continue cooking over a medium-low heat,
stirring frequently and thoroughly. Adjust the heat so that the polenta
just barely bubbles. The key to a successful polenta is smoothness, and no
lumps.

As the polenta thickens, be sure to stir with
vigor, scraping up the mixture from the bottom and sides.

It is done, when the polenta becomes a mass
that pulls away from the sides, and has a glossy look. This can be about
30 - 40 minutes.

To finish the polenta: take off the heat, stir
in the butter and the parmesan and stir again.

Basic variation:

Take one pound of Italian sweet sausages.
Prick the sausages with a fork. Melt three tablespoons of butter in a
skillet. Add the sausages and saute at a medium heat. Turn them regularly.
They should be brown overall, and cooked, in about ten minutes. Sprinkle a
tablespoon of red wine vinegar over them, and let the vinegar evaporate.

Spoon the polenta onto a serving dish. Top
with the sausages and, if you are willing to go all out, spoon the melted
fat from the sausages over the top.

Prick the sausage pieces with a fork. In a
saute pan, add two tablespoons of butter, and fry the sausages for eight
minutes, constantly turning them, until they start to brown. Remove the
sausages and set aside. Drain the fat from the saute pan.

In that same pan, add the three tablespoons of
olive oil. Add the onion and saute two minutes. Add the carrots and
celery, and saute an additional four minutes. Add the sausage pieces, and
continue cooking another four minutes.

Add the tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a
boil, and then lower to a simmer and cook for about twenty minutes, until
the tomatoes break down into a sauce. Set aside.

When the polenta is ready, reheat the sausage
and tomato sauce. Spoon the polenta onto serving dishes. With a fork, put
the sausage pieces artistically into the center of the polenta. Spoon the
tomato sauce over the sausage, dripping, of course, into the polenta.
Serve.